A Rocky Road
by Angel's-Solitaire
Summary: This is based around DS John Boulton, and a new DS! Do they really hate each other? Will they ever get together? Please read and review! Chapter Seven is up!
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is my first ever fanfic! I have only just joined the site, and I have loved reading your stories! I hope you enjoy mine! Please review and let me know what you think! Be gentle with me!!!!

_I was a huge fan of DS Boulton, so this story is based around him! There will be more chapters to come, so watch this space!_

Disclaimer - I own the character, DS Tess Harrington - everything else is not owned by me!

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A Rocky Road 

John Boulton strode into the CID office on Monday morning, to find all usual activity halted, and a woman that he didn't recognise being introduced to the team by Chris Deakin.

"Ah, there you are John. On time as usual I see. Let me introduce you to DS Tess Harrington, who will be taking over from Danny Pearce."

John looked the newcomer up and down. She was very short, only about 5 feet, and very slim. She looked to be in her early thirties. She was really very pretty, with her glossy brunette hair, which fell in loose natural curls to just above her shoulders, her little ski-jump nose and smooth skinned face, lightly dotted with freckles, her big dark eyes, long eyelashes, and her pale complexion. She was wearing a very stylish outfit, which consisted of a fitted black sweater, a pleated black skirt that rested just above her knees, thick black tights and black patent heeled shoes. A pair of classic white pearl stud earrings decorated her ear lobes.

_Well, not bad looking but not my type at all. She looks far too precious and serious for me. I prefer my women to be more fun and feisty…….. _John thought.

"Hi, I'm DS John Boulton," he said.

"Its very nice to meet you," Tess replied politely. Her voice betraying her public school education at King's School in Canterbury, and her subsequent years studying at Oxford University.

_Oh great, she's a posh bird too. That's all we need here – a bloody snob._

John wandered off to chat with Don Beech by the coffee machine.

"What do you reckon to the new girl then, John? I wouldn't mind a bit of her!" Don whispered.

John snorted. "Nah, she's way too straight laced for me. Plus I prefer blondes anyway. Whats the betting she's wears pearls in bed!"

At that moment DI Deakin made his way over to where they were standing.

"I assume you two are actually planning to do some work today?" He said patronisingly.

"Yes Guv," they both replied unconvincingly.

"Good, then you won't mind taking Tess with you to check out that arson in on the Cole Lane estate" Deakin retorted.

John groaned. "Can't someone else look after the newbie? You know I'm crap at this sort of thing."

Don grinned. "She can come out with me."

Deakin rolled his eyes. "Much as I appreciate that kind offer Don, that won't be necessary."

"John, just take Tess with you and stop complaining for once"

John stomped across the office to where Tess was sitting at her new desk.

"Come on then, your coming out with me," he said, as he started to briskly walk towards the office door.

Tess jumped up out of her seat, and hurried after him.

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As John drove them towards the Cole Lane estate in stony silence, Tess decided to break the ice.

"So, how long have you been at Sun Hill for then?"

John grunted, "A while."

"So what are the others like then? Anyone I should avoid?"

"Nah, not really."

Tess looked across at John. He was staring at the road and looking as if he would rather be anywhere but in the car with her.

"You're not the most talkative of people are you?"

John only grunted in reply.

"I don't bite you know," she told him.

"Didn't think you did," he shot back.

John pulled up the car outside the burned out shell of a house. They both jumped out of the car to be greeted by a Scene of Crime officer, who had been examining the scene. As they gathered information about the how the fire had been started, and the evidence left at the scene, Tess and John barely spoke to one another.

In fact they barely spoke to each other all day, despite the fact that they were working on the arson case together. Tess felt constantly irked by this arrogant, grouchy detective, who made absolutely no effort to offer the hand of welcome to her.

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After the shift had finished, the CID team invited Tess along to the pub for a welcome drink. The whole team, who were very keen to get to know Tess better, came along. This included Duncan Lennox, Mickey Webb, Kerry Holmes, Rod Skase, Don Beech, Liz Rawton, Danny Glaze, Jim Carver, Geoff Daly, Chris Deakin, Jack Meadows and even John was persuaded to come for a quick pint or two.

"So Tess, how was your first day?" asked Jack Meadows, with a sideways glance at John.

"Err it was very informative, I learned a lot," Tess replied carefully.

John snorted and disappeared to the bar to get another pint.

Kerry watched his departing back, and turned to Tess.

"I take it that John showed his usual charm and magnetism today!"

Tess grinned,

"Is he always so moody?"

"Always!" Liz put in.

_Great, that's all I need! A grumpy git to work with….._

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The next morning, Tess arrived at work feeling much more confident than she had the previous day. She had really enjoyed getting to know her new work colleagues better at the pub, especially after John had decided to leave. They had stayed until closing time, and before long she had begun to show her true colours. The rest of the team were both happy and surprised to realise that the quiet, elegant woman that they had spent the day with, was actually extremely self-assured, witty and thick-skinned.

As she walked into the CID office, Tess exchanged cheerful greetings with the rest of the team. She saw John staring away at his computer screen, and decided to ignore him for the time being.

Later that day, Tess and John were continuing their enquiries into the arson case. The investigation was going really well. They had a suspect for the arson case and they had an address for him. However, relations between the two were no friendlier. It wasn't just his abruptness that she disliked – the rest of the team had assured her that he was pretty much the same with most people, so she knew not to take it personally. However, Tess couldn't put her finger on what it was about him that annoyed her so much, but he really rubbed her up the wrong way. She felt that she would be glad when this case was over, and she may be able to avoid having to work with him in future.

John was unhappy too. He did not like his new colleague. He thought that she was stuck-up, boring and too timid. He did not relish the thought of having to deal with a potentially difficult arrest with only a precious woman like Tess as back up.

They arrived at the address that they had for their suspect and they could hear loud music being played from inside the house.

"Good, he must be in," Tess said.

John thumped the front door of the house.

"This is the police, open up," he shouted.

There was no response to this, so John banged on the door and shouted again. Finally he lost his patience and kicked the door several times until it gave way and opened. They both piled into the house and rushed into the kitchen at the bottom of the hallway, where they could hear the sound of someone trying to make an escape. As they entered the room, they could see a tall man in his early twenties halfway through the open window. He leapt out of the window, with John in hot pursuit.

Tess was about to follow too, when she realised that the wall around the back yard of the house, was very tall and had barbed wire around the top. She knew that the suspect would probably make a run for it down the side of the house. She doubled back and made her way out of the front door and ran towards the pathway that ran down the side of the house. At that moment, the suspect ran towards her. He saw her blocking his way and turned around. John emerged at the other end of the pathway, and carried on running towards the suspect. The suspect immediately ran towards Tess, and tried to push her roughly out of his way. Without hesitation, Tess grabbed the suspect, and threw him up against the wall. Despite the suspect's size, and her tiny frame, she held him against the wall whilst he struggled to get away and yelled,

"I'm DS Harrington from Sun Hill, and you're nicked!"

With that, she handcuffed him and dragged him over to their waiting car.

She smugly looked over her shoulder at John.

"Well, are you coming then?"

_Bloody hell……_ he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

This is dedicated to Gem6 and crazyamy005. Thank you for the reviews – they made my day!

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**Part Two!**

Tess had now been working at Sun Hill for two weeks, and she had proved herself to be a popular member of the CID team already. The DCs had already decided that she was the best DS to work with.

"And her legs aren't bad either," quipped Mickey.

Duncan laughed,

"Not to mention that its much better to be sat in a car for three hours on an obbo with a cute bird, instead of a grumbling, farting old tosser."

At this remark the male DCs descended into fits of childish laughter, whilst Kerry and Liz looked on and rolled their eyes at each other.

However, there was no change in relations as far as John Boulton was concerned. They avoided each other whenever possible, and where their paths were forced to cross whilst working on a case, they would simply go through the mechanics of the investigations and tolerate each other as best they could.

Tess genuinely disliked John. She thought he was an arrogant pig, and as a strong character herself, she knew that he was somebody who would not allow her to take charge of any situation. John's feelings were entirely mutual…..

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Everyone had noticed the tension between the pair. Kerry and Liz discussed it as they watched the two sergeants vying for position as top dog on an armed robbery case. Kerry watched them carefully.

"You know, I think there is more to them two than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?"

"All this argy bargy, I reckon its just a cover for the fact that they have the hots for each other."

Liz raised her eyebrows at Kerry.

"Well good luck with that theory, because I really can't see it myself ,"

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DCI Jack Meadows had also noted the tension between John and his new recruit with displeasure. He didn't care what was causing the tension, he just wanted to put a stop to it straight away. He really did not want a feud between two officers to disrupt their work, or to affect the rest of the team.

He came to the conclusion that the most effective way of getting them to sort out their differences and learn to get on, was to push them together so that they had no choice but to confront the situation head-on. With this in mind he walked out of his office and asked John and Tess to investigate another string of armed robberies together, thereby ensuring that they would _have_ to spend a great deal of time working alongside each other…….

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The string of armed robberies all appeared to be linked. The offender was clearly getting very confident, and John and Tess were regularly being informed of new robberies in local shops, post offices and petrol stations. This morning, John and Tess were visiting the scene of the latest incident in an off-licence. The sales assistant was very distressed and it was proving very slow work to get the information that they needed from her.

John was getting impatient and tried to continue with the questioning.

"So, what did the man say?"

The sales assistant struggled to speak between sobs.

"He, he told me he would shoot me if I didn't, if I didn't give him the money."

"Is that all?"

"No, he erm told me that if I didn't move quickly, he would follow me home after work and kill my family."

The young woman collapsed into harder sobs, which made her whole body shake. Tess was starting to feel that John was being way too harsh with this victim. She glared across at him in warning. He ignored her.

"Anything else?"

"I told him that we only kept one hundred pounds in the till, and that I don't have a key for the safe without the manager there."

"Keep going, we need to know every detail if we are going to have any chance of catching this bloke."

But the sales assistant was crying too hard to say anything else.

"Come on, we need all the..."

Tess finally snapped.

"John, a word please. Outside"

"Hang on…"

"No NOW!"

John reluctantly got up and followed Tess outside in a rage.

"For gods sake, what the hell are you playing at? I'm trying to get important details from the victim of a serious crime, and you are flashing me evil looks and interrupting me for a bloody word. What is your problem?"

"My problem," she hissed "Is that you need to learn when to show a bit of bloody compassion. That poor girl has had a terrible ordeal and she needs to be calmed down so that she can remember the incident clearly and give us the info that we need. It doesn't help when you are sat there barking questions at her, when she is that upset."

John was seriously enraged now.

"So what do you suggest then, Miss love and compassion? How the hell do you think you are going to solve this case without questioning the victim whilst the incident is fresh in her mind?"

"We have enough for now. We are going to take the CCTV tape, leave her to calm down and get her to come into the station this afternoon to give us a full statement and a photo fit of the suspect."

"We are going to question her now."

"Oh no we bloody aren't."

Tess turned around and went back inside the building to tell the victim to come into the station later. By the time that she got back outside, John had already got back into the car and had started running the engine. Tess sighed and got into the passenger seat. By the time they were on the road, they were arguing again.

"You know, you really are an arrogant little pig."

"And you are a stuck up cow!"

"Oh is that what you really think? Is that why you have been a complete tosser since I arrived?"

"Look, I don't like you. Get over it."

"Oh believe me, I really couldn't care less. I really don't like you either. I just think it wouldn't hurt for you to act a bit more professionally."

"Oh there is no problem with my professionalism, I just have a problem with you being so bloody high and mighty all the time."

"You are so immature, just grow up."

With that, they both stopped yelling at each other, and sat in silence with matching scowls on their faces.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three!**

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Several weeks, nine more armed robberies, one arrest, and numerous arguments later – John and Tess had nearly cracked the string of armed robberies. They had made an arrest and they were sure that they had got their man. Both of them couldn't wait to interview this suspect.

Kerry walked into the CID office and looked around for John and Tess. She spotted them sat at their respective desks working through files of evidence separately. She walked up to John's desk, which was the closest one to where she was stood.

"I saw June on my way here and she told me that your suspect's brief has arrived."

"Great, about time too," said John, as he jumped up out of his chair and made his way out of the CID office.

Tess looked up.

"I take it the brief has arrived?"

"Yeah," Kerry replied.

"Hmm nice of him to wait for me…"

She jumped up to leave the office, leaving Kerry behind with a knowing smirk on her face.

Tess caught up with John outside the interview room, where the brief was talking to his client inside.

"Right, I'm going to lead this interview," she said determinedly.

"Excuse me, I think you will find that I am going to lead this interview."

"No, I am leading it."

"Since when?"

"Since now," she said, pushing past John and making her way into the interview room. John followed, not particularly making any effort to hide his temper.

Tony Stamp and Cass Rickman who had been stood nearby with their ears practically flapping, had witnessed this entire exchange. They grinned at each other and headed out to the area car.

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The station gossips had been working overtime on their latest topic of conversation. This was the constant debate over why John and Tess were arguing so much. Everyone had their own theory, but most people agreed that the root of the problem, was that they fancied each other.

A large group of PCs were sitting together in the canteen, discussing their thoughts on the relationship between John and Tess.

"Well, I don't know about all this fancying each other lark, but I love seeing him being put in his place for one," chuckled Dave Quinnan.

"Well, I don't disagree there," said Nick Klein, with a grin.

"If you ask me, they definitely fancy each other. You can see the sexual tension a mile off," Vicky Hagan added, smugly.

Cass agreed.

"They argue like an old married couple!"

Kerry and Liz both passed the group carrying their lunches. Kerry nudged Liz,

"See, I told you so!"

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After yet another day of arguments, John and Tess were both in the mood for a stiff drink.

"You two coming for a drink then? We can celebrate you two charging that suspect for the armed robberies," asked Don, as John and Tess walked back into the CID office.

"Yeah, come on. Its June's birthday and everybody is heading down to the pub. Apparently there is going to be some food laid on and everything!" exclaimed Duncan.

"I knew there must be some reason why you were all going!" John grinned. "Count me in then."

"What about you, Tess?" asked Don.

"Go on then."

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It was a great night. June felt very special and spoilt by the effort that had been made to celebrate her birthday. All of CID had turned up as well – even DCI Meadows. By 10:30pm everyone was drunk, and having a fantastic time. Several of the PCs were having a team darts competition with some of the DCs. Neither of the teams were very successful, due to the fact that all of the players were very drunk, and consequently they kept missing the dartboard entirely, instead hitting the floor, the scoreboard and the wall. This was leading to many laughs, jeers and banter between the officers.

Jack Meadows, Derek Conway, Matt Boydon, Chris Deakin and Don were having a rather heated debate about the comparisons between various football teams, and who they thought was likely to get picked for the England team in the big tournament. This was accompanied by the drinking of a lot of whisky, and all of the differences in rank had long been forgotten in the haze of drunkenness within the group.

John had been drinking with Duncan for a while, and getting rather fed up with Duncan's increasing interest in watching the darts match, he decided to leave him to it and get himself another pint.

Tess, who had been drinking and gossiping with some of the other female officers, including June, also decided to escape for a moment to get herself a glass of water from the bar.

She looked across to the other side of the bar, and she spotted John ordering a pint. Deciding that she really ought to try and make an effort to sort things out with him, she walked over to him and offered to buy his pint for him.

"Thanks but you don't have to."

"I want to. I want us to stop arguing."

"Your drunk."

"So are you! Come on lets try and bury the hatchet."

"As long as its not in my head."

Tess laughed, and tried to jokingly hit John. Instead she embarrassingly slipped on one of her high heels. John managed to grab her, and stop her from falling.

This left the two of them stood very close together. They stared into each other's eyes, and didn't move a muscle. Suddenly, they both moved closer to each other and began to snog furiously.

They were both totally oblivious to the fact that the entire pub were watching them…


	4. Chapter 4

This is dedicated to Gem, thanks for the support!

**Part Four**

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The morning after the night before, most of the team at Sun Hill were nursing hangovers. CID were definitely suffering the most, and John and Tess were certainly no exception.

Tess had walked into the CID office that morning with the hangover from hell. She felt like there was a team of miners digging away into her skull. Worse of all, she had to face John after their very public snog the night before. John looked up as she arrived and he flashed a very stony look at her, before burying his head back into his paperwork.

Tess had already been wishing that the snog hadn't happened. She knew that it would only further complicate her already tempestuous relationship with her colleague. However, she couldn't help feeling a slight wave of disappointment that he obviously thought the snog had been a mistake. She brushed away that thought straightaway – after all, she didn't fancy him at all, did she?

The rest of the nick were all full of gossip about the pair. Everyone had seen the snog, and they were all dying to know what the story was between them. Everyone was convinced that they fancied each other like mad, and they were highly amused by the fact that they were obviously in complete denial about it.

"Oi, wheres your girlfriend Sarge?" jeered Dave Quinnan, as John walked past him and Tony.

"She is not my girlfriend," John said through gritted teeth.

Dave and Tony both sniggered as they watched John stalk off in a rage.

Tess was also receiving the same treatment. When she went to the canteen to get herself a sandwich for lunch, she was subjected to a round of wolf-whistles and several cries of 'Shall I buy a hat for the wedding?'

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At least John and Tess were soon able to throw themselves into new investigations and take their minds off the events of the night before.

They managed to get through the majority of the rest of the day without having to face each other. Tess was investigating a case involving a man who was suspected of hanging around local schools and taking photographs of the children. Meanwhile, John was involved in the case of a missing fourteen year-old girl.

Tess was fed up of following this bloke around all day. So far, the most interesting thing that she had seen him do was to get himself a drive-through takeaway meal.

John was making some progress in the search for the missing teenager, Leah Rodgers. It was looking increasingly like she had been snatched by a man in a silver 4x4, who had been seen by some other teenagers, talking to the missing girl at the bus stop on her way home from school.

As Tess followed her suspect's silver 4x4, she had no idea that her case might be connected to John's…

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At the end of a very hard day in which John and Tess both felt that ultimately they had reached a dead end in their investigations, they both returned to the CID office. There was a real buzz about the Leah Rodgers case, and most of the officers were discussing the details of the case.

"So what car was this geezer she was talking to in?" asked Don.

"It was a silver 4x4, the kids don't remember the registration though," John replied.

The realisation dawned on Tess.

"That's the bloke I have been following all day, the one who has been hanging around schools and taking photos of kids…"

John and Tess looked at each other across the room. They both knew that they were going to have to work together again…


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5 

I always think that it's the quality of reviewers that counts, as opposed to quantity… ;-)

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After working on the Leah Rodgers case together for a week, they were on the verge of getting a result. However, they hadn't even mentioned their kiss, and things had been very awkward between the pair of them. Their suspect had been under surveillance 24 hours a day, and he had finally led John and Tess to a possible location where Leah may be being held. It was an empty factory, and John and Tess were watching closely from their car as the suspect unlocked a door and entered the building.

Immediately, the two officers leapt out of their car and rushed over to the window closest to where the suspect had entered. All they could see was an empty room, so they slipped through the open door as quietly as they could manage. There was a corridor that led straight from the room, and Tess was the first one to dive into it. John followed in hot pursuit. Every time that Tess reached a room, she quickly and quietly pushed open the door, but to no avail. Where had the suspect gone?

Soon there was only one room left, without so much as a glance back at John, Tess approached the door, and flung it open. The first thing that she saw was a handgun being pointed straight at her. She looked behind the suspect, who was brandishing the gun, and she saw a young blond teenager lying bound up on the floor – Leah Rodgers. She was dirty and bruised, but otherwise looked okay. John was right behind Tess and also saw the scene that had greeted Tess behind the door.

"Put your hands up!" yelled the suspect, his hands tightening around his gun.

John and Tess both did as they were told and put their hands up.

"Now, don't do anything stupid," Tess warned "Just put the gun down."

"Do you think I'm stupid? Put the gun down so you can arrest me? I don't think so," yelled the suspect in a rage.

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After an hour of both John and Tess trying to convince the suspect to give it up, they hadn't got very far. The suspect was extremely agitated and John and Tess were very worried that he would shoot. They didn't even have any back up, since they had been in too much of a hurry to radio in their location.

Tess decided to give the man some cold, hard facts about what would happen to him if he didn't give himself up.

"Look, if you don't stop this right now and let us all go, you are going to be facing a lot more than a kidnapping charge. Do you want to go down for murder?"

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID COW," bellowed the man. He pointed the gun straight at Tess again, and his finger moved onto the trigger…

To Tess' surprise, John immediately moved in front of her and placed himself in front of the gun.

"If you want to shoot her, you will have to take me first," he snarled.

The man concentrated his attention upon John and got ready to shoot him. Tess watched his finger slowly start to apply pressure to the trigger. She couldn't let him shoot John.

She grabbed the man's arms and pushed them away from John, just as the gun fired. The shot went right into one of the walls. John helped Tess to restrain the man, and arrest him.

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Later on, the CID team were enjoying drinks in a new, posh wine bar that Rod had insisted upon trying under the pretence of it having great music, although his real reasons were to check out the female talent there.

However, many rounds later the team were very merry and were having a great time despite the 'poncy' surroundings as John so tactfully put it.

John and Tess were sitting next to each other.

"Thanks for saving my life today."

"Thanks for saving mine," grinned John.

Tess leaned in a little bit closer to talk into John's ear.

"I didn't know you cared."

"Who says I do?" said John with a grin and a wink.

They both laughed and made no effort to move away from each other. Just as they both leaned in ever so slightly, they were rudely interrupted by a women with a dark brown shoulder-length bob.

Didn't expect to see you here bro," she said teasingly.

John looked very surprised to see her, but he recovered quickly.

"Tess, this is my sister Angie."

Angie looked Tess up and down.

"Nice to meet you Tess, do you work with John?"

"Yes, I do. Its very nice to meet you as well."

"So how are you then Ange?" John sighed.

"Not bad thanks. Still need to get someone to share my flat with. Won't be able to pay the rent on my own for much longer. Honestly, you would never think that this is London. Nobody seems interested at all."

"Really? I have been looking for a new place and haven't been able to find anywhere at all." Tess remarked.

"Well, you are quite welcome to come and live in my place. It's a really nice flat."

"Sounds perfect to me!"

"Well here's to new friends and flat sharing!" said Angie, raising her glass.

Tess smiled widely and raised her glass to touch it against Angie's.

John wasn't sure that he liked this at all…


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the long wait between updates guys, I have been very busy teaching – darn those exams! I will try to update at least one more time over the half-term break as I will not have time for at least several weeks after that!

_All of the reviews are very much appreciated, so this is for you ALL!_

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After living together for a month, Angie and Tess were really enjoying their flat share. They had become the best of friends, and spent most of their time outside of work (Angie was a PA for a very successful businessman) together. At least twice a week, they would go out partying together and spend the night drinking cocktails, dancing, eyeing up men, and giggling constantly.

One Friday night, Tess and Angie were at a local nightclub and were having a great time as usual. Both of them were rather tipsy already and were having a great laugh. One tall, dark and handsome man on the other side of the bar, kept looking across at Tess and trying to catch her eye. Angie nudged Tess and leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"That bloke over there fancies you"

"Which bloke?" Tess replied, looking around her.

"The one over there who keeps staring at you"

Tess looked over at the man, and he met her eyes with a wink and a cheeky grin. Tess did not return the grin and turned around to talk to Angie.

"He isn't my type," she said matter-of-factly.

"He is tall, dark, bloody gorgeous and he can't keep his eyes off YOU, how can he not be your type!?" exclaimed Angie.

"I'm not interested in him! Would you like another cocktail?"

Angie nodded and watched Tess order two more cocktails. _But you are interested in my brother.. _she thought. This confirmed in her mind, the suspicion that she had held ever since she had first seen John and Tess together in that wine bar. Then there was the fact that she had seen more of John in the last couple of weeks than she had seen of him in years. Funny how he was more interested in seeing her now that she was living with Tess… On the other hand, Angie could see that there was a great deal of tension between her brother and her flatmate. _You could cut the sexual tension with a knife, _she thought..

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At the end of the night, Angie and Tess drunkenly walked home from the nightclub together. Angie was drunk enough to broach a subject that she had known better than to bring up with Tess before.

"So whats the deal with you and my charming brother then?" she giggled.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you and him obviously fancy the pants off each other, so why don't you just get on with it, instead of all this mucking around and pretending to hate each other?"

Unfortunately, Angie then tripped over a road curb before Tess could think of a suitable response to that question.

"Are you alright?"

Angie began laughing hysterically and stumbled to her feet.

"So come on then babe, tell me all about you and John."

Tess decided to ignore this question, and grabbed Angie's arm to guide her home….


	7. Chapter 7

Hi again everyone, sorry that I have been AWOL for so long – it's a very long and complicated story that I will not bore you all with! Instead I shall get on with updating my story for you all!

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The next morning, Tess and Angie predictably both woke up feeling rather hungover. As Angie began to carefully piece together the events of the previous nights in her fuzzy memory, she realised that she had never managed to extract an answer from Tess regarding her feelings towards John. Not that she really needed Tess to admit that she liked John, as Angie had already figured that out!

She wondered if she ought to try and do some matchmaking between her brother and Tess, but she decided against it. _After all_, she thought, _John is far too stubborn to admit to_ _his feelings for Tess – and vice versa. If only I could just bang their heads together..._

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Everyone at the station (from the canteen staff, to Superintendent Brownlow) knew about the sexual tension between John and Tess. They became well known for their heated, fiery arguments over everything from how to handle a tricky suspect, to who got the overtime shifts. The rest of the team would watch these arguments with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. As Kerry Holmes pointed out,

"Somebody cannot get under your skin that much unless you are in love with them."

Over the months, it was obvious to everyone to everyone that John and Tess were in love with each other – except John and Tess themselves who were constantly angry and frustrated with each other……

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_Sorry for the short chapter guys! More chapters are on their way very soon – I promise!_

_Angel x_


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